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1 hour ago, Ozzy said:

Did you use the kit tyres on the LRDG Chevrolet? If so did the talc wash/ dust out ok?

Yes, I did, but I haven't tried to take the residue off yet!  I not too worried, there's not a lot and if it's too difficult to remove a bit of suitable colour paint and it will become part of the weathering! 

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Laid a strip of sand and added some small rocks!

 

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I used a coat of PVA to stick down the sand and having randomly placed the 'small rocks' I dripped a dilute PVA on to them from an eye dropper to glue them in place.  This is a very effective method of gluing them down.  Unfortunately, when I've done this before, I stuck the basic sand down in the same way which, once dry, gave an even result.  As you can see in the photo, where I've used the thin PVA over the normal PVA it looks wet as I would expect it to.  Unfortunately, this colour diference is still apparent when completely dry!  This is going to lead to a very patchy desert!

 

The other thing I'm not happy about is the 'sand' is too dark and not 'yellow' enough.  I will need to get some more desert looking sand and rectify these problems before proceeding.  Hopefully I will be able to find something suitable locally!

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Looks good Derek. I used chinchilla dust in lieu of actual sand - much lighter in colour. I also air-brushed the surface with various tones darker and lighter than desert yellow.

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I have obtained some sand, it's actually designed for a kiddies sandpit, but hey it was cheap!  I also bought some railroad ballast in buff both medium and fine (not cheap!) which are both different colours to each other and the sand!  With my original darker sand I should be able to mix a nice 'desert sand' with differing colour and texture!

 

Whilst I'm sorting that out, I gave a bit of thought to desert vegetation.  I made these grass clumps from a small dollop (Highly technical term for a quantity) of silicone glue, some hairs trimmed from a cheap, yellow bristled paint brush, a sprinkle of sand and a tint of deep brown panel line wash!  Very basic method was to apply the small dollop of silicone glue to my glass work mat, cut the bristles and hold them in a 'bunch' with the bottom evened out and then poke them into the silicone glue.  The silicone is stiff enough to support the bristles in the vertical (ish) position.  Sprinkle sand over the dollop of silicone and let it dry.  Scrape off the completed clump of grass (I used a Chisel Modelling blade) and apply the panel wash from base to tip whilst holding it upside down to avoid colouring the now sandy base.  Hey presto, job done!

 

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What do you reckon?  They stand about 15 mm high so at 1/35 they're approx 525 mm.

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Have you tried Matte Medium to fix the sand? It dries matt and is also easier to remove than PVA if you get it wrong. I used it years ago for railway ballast, and if you need to modify or shift the track it just scrapes off - not like PVA!

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42 minutes ago, Jo NZ said:

Have you tried Matte Medium to fix the sand?

No, that's not something I've thought of, mind you, it's not something I have a lot of!  I think I have 1 small 17ml bottle of matte medium that came in a paint set!

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Another way to fix the sand is drip Klear over it all. Some may say it's sacrilege but I have loads of it. I then airbrushed matt base colour followed by dusting of ground up pastels (not the oil ones) for colour variation. 

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4 hours ago, Darby said:

Another way to fix the sand is drip Klear over it all.

The one thing I don't have available to me is Klear!  I started modelling in 2010 and by the time I learned of Klear it was no longer available!  I have a dastardly plan which I'll report once I've tried it!

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Hi Derek. Very impressive progress with your base. I must admit I thought the patchy effect looked very natural.

As to Klear - you can get the new version from Pledge. You need the Multi-Surface Wax Version. The one I've got still mentions Klear on the front. If you do get some test it on something not important first.

Kind regards,

Stix

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OK, to correct my sand I managed to clean off that applied previously, the PVA wasn't waterproof!  So some mild scrubbing with a stiff brush and a wet wipe and voila!

 

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Bit messy looking but it will do!  I tried using matte varnish as the glue on the right but it came out stripey so I reverted to PVA, that's why the right hand side looks darker, its 2 layers!  There are a few bald patches to deal with and some blending in on the right, but generally I'm quite happy!

 

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I'm also a little uncertain if the PVA is fully dry to the left so I'll see what it looks like in the morning.

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Nice covering Derek, I saw some fine Ballast when I was in my local model shop. I was tempted to get some, I also saw some Vallejo  paste to. I'm after a more compact road/ track look, I did pick up some air drying clay to start the base.

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1 hour ago, Ozzy said:

Nice covering Derek, I saw some fine Ballast when I was in my local model shop. I was tempted to get some, I also saw some Vallejo  paste to. I'm after a more compact road/ track look, I did pick up some air drying clay to start the base.

Thank you, i'm getting it where I want it!  If you want a more compact mud look, maybe the painted clay would be the way to go with mud pigments for ruts and the like?  There is a lot of help and advice on YouTube you could refer to!

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Today I've patched up the sand on the lower level, added some scattered smaller stones & rocks so it now looks like this:

 

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The lack of surface stones to the left middle ground is to represent the soft sand the LRDG have got bogged down in!  I've also had a go at painting and weathering the outcrop in the foreground: it has a bit of a glossy finish so I'm going to see what it looks like after a coat of matte varnish.

 

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And lastly for today I've given the Escarpment a base coat. 

 

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There are a lot of nice nooks and crannies in this feature so this will get a coat of gloss varnish tomorrow ready for some filters and washes.  I need to finish the clay seal around the back and to add some more sand topside then I can look at adding the final touches, a little desert vegetation!

Edited by Derek A
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15 hours ago, Derek A said:

Thank you, i'm getting it where I want it!  If you want a more compact mud look, maybe the painted clay would be the way to go with mud pigments for ruts and the like?  There is a lot of help and advice on YouTube you could refer to!

Thanks Derek, I've been looking on YouTube this morning and has given me some ideas, I also found some palm tree how to videos also. Your ground work is looking very nice, with the addition of those small stones gives more depth to the scene.

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I sprayed the rock formations with gloss varnish and weathered with various washes finishing with a fairly dark brown, once that was dry I sprayed a coat of matte varnish over the whole lower area and rock face; it now looks like this:

 

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And the outcrop in the foreground:

 

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I'm quite pleased with the results so far.  I've also finished off the covering of the polystyrene at the back and now need to finish of the top area.  Once that is done I will add some vegetation and start integrating the models and figures into the scene.  Doesn't sound much but it will take a while to complete!

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1 hour ago, clive_t said:

Nice work, looking suitably desert like already!

 

 

Thanks Clive, I am sort of working blind having never been to a desert!  🐪

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30 minutes ago, Silenoz said:

looks convincing though... nicely built and weathered models by the way

Thank you, I'm rather enjoying this!

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1 hour ago, Derek A said:

Thanks Clive, I am sort of working blind having never been to a desert!  🐪

Neither have I, which is very possibly a good thing. However when I was doing my Alam Halfa dio last year, young Mr @Ozzy very kindly posted some pics of his time there; if you think they might give you some inspiration you can see them here, about half way down the page.

 

 

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31 minutes ago, clive_t said:

Neither have I, which is very possibly a good thing. However when I was doing my Alam Halfa dio last year, young Mr @Ozzy very kindly posted some pics of his time there; if you think they might give you some inspiration you can see them here, about half way down the page.

 

 

Thanks for that, they are interesting, I don't think I'm too far off!

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Derek,

 

your ground work is looking not far off the real thing.

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to follow in the 8th Army's footsteps in 1999, these are some pictures of pictures out of my album. The western desert was like being on a beach in one area and then onto hard rocky out crops on another, all around was fossilised wood and on the beach areas were bushes all over the place. As @clive_t mentioned I post these in his thread, but due to postimage problems I'm not sure if there still visible.

 

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21 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Derek,

 

your ground work is looking not far off the real thing.

 

I was lucky enough to follow in the 8th Army's footsteps in 1999, these are some pictures of pictures out of my album. The western desert was like being on a beach in one area and then onto hard rocky out crops on another, all around was fossilised wood and on the beach areas were bushes all over the place. As @clive_t mentioned I post these in his thread, but due to postimage problems I'm not sure if there still visible.

 

Thank you very much for repeating the pictures Ozzy, they will definately help me provide representative 'greenery'!

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